Health

Supplemental perioperative oxygen to reduce the incidence of surgical-wound infection

Article Abstract:

Giving surgery patients supplemental oxygen during surgery may reduce the risk of postoperative wound infections. Researchers randomly assigned 500 surgery patients to receive 30% or 80% oxygen through a face mask during the operation and for two hours after. Thirty percent oxygen is similar to air whereas 80% is considerably more oxygen than is in air. Only 5% of the patients who received 80% oxygen developed a surgical wound infection compared to 11% of those who received 30% oxygen.

A drug that blocks the gastrointestinal side effects of opioid drugs but not their effect on pain can help surgery patients recover their gastrointestinal function faster. Opioids are used to treat postoperative pain but can also inhibit gastrointestinal function.

Perioperative normothermia to reduce the incidence of surgical-wound infection and shorten hospitalization

Article Abstract:

Maintaining a normal body temperature in surgical patients could reduce the incidence of postoperative infections and shorten their hospital stay. Hypothermia is a common complication of anesthesia, because anesthetics affect the regulation and distribution of heat in the body. Researchers used a fluid warmer to infuse intravenous fluids into 104 patients during colon surgery to maintain normal body temperature. Ninety-six patients were given the same treatment but the fluid warmer was not turned on (the control group). Core temperatures measured during surgery revealed that body temperature dropped 2 degrees C. below normal in the control group. Measuring the difference in temperature between the fingers and the arm revealed that 74% of those in the control group experienced vasoconstriction compared to 6% of those with normothermia. There were 18 postoperative infections in the control group vs 6 in the normothermic group. Those in the control group remained in the hospital two days longer than those in the normothermic group.